A HIGH-POWERED delegation is visiting to North-East today to assess the region's bid to be at the forefront of the UK's billion pound clean energy development programme.

If the bid is successful it could mean the region will be able to reclaim title of 'energy capital' of the country - just two years after deep coal mining ceased with the closure of the last pit.

Experts predict that geothermal, wind, solar and tidal power and bio-fuels will be the boom industries of the future, along with new ways of using fossil fuels like coal without causing so much harm to the environment.

Bid leader Paul Younger of Newcastle University, who is the grandson of a Durham miner, said: "King Coal may no longer no longer reign here but he has polished up his crown ready for his successors - Prince Clean Energy and Princess Sustainability."

The North East has already made a shortlist of five to host the Energy Technologies Institute, which will spearhead national research and development-vital if the UK is to meet its commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change.

At Durham University scientists are testing the next generation of wind turbines in the on-site wind tunnel, which collects and analyses data on their effectiveness in adjacent computers.

Dr Rob Dominy, a Reader in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics in the university's School of Engineering said the prototype "vertical axis" turbines were about one-metre high and, unlike many turbines, rotated regardless of wind direction.

He said: "They have big advantages, particularly for small devices. One advantage is that they are almost silent, so if you started putting them around buildings there would be no issues about humming."

Dr Graham Hillier, director Fuel Cell Applications at the Centre for Process Innovation, at the Wilton Centre in Redcar, said: "As well as all the traditional energy sources, the region is nurturing new energy options from coal gasification with carbon capture and storage through fuel cells, wind turbines and bio-fuels to the development of sustainable low carbon distributed energy systems."

Professor Younger, HSBC Professor of Energy and Environment at Newcastle University, added: "If we are selected to host the ETI, the region will have the chance to re-established itself as the energy capital of the UK, with clear potential to create hundreds of high quality jobs."